One Mother Rambling Through Life

Great Deals and Steals!

2011-06-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

I love getting good deals on clothing for my kiddos. They grow sooo fast that it seems like such a waste to buy all new. Plus kids play hard and it sometimes reflects in their clothing. I love consignment shops and thrift stores. But then again I have two small kiddos and it is kinda hard to manage them at the stores. Which is why I love ThredUP. It is an online consignment store where you can both list and buy gently used clothing for your kiddos. Basically you pay $15.95 per box which includes shipping. When you list a box you can earn $2-4 per box when they need the sizes and you get 3 stars or more when the box is reviewed. Check it out!

http://www.thredup.com/Jennings257119

Couponing...

2011-05-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

So I have been hit and miss with couponing. I have had great success in some area like a Target trip where I pait $24 for $72 worth of products or Walgreens where I paid $19 for $50 worth of products. But then there were trips where none of the coupons and sales matched up. I am still saving money but not as much as I would like with how much work it takes to get good savings. So is couponing worth it? Yes and No. There are a lot of great deals out there and if it is something that you "need" then it is excellent. I decided to try to stockpile some things for the future from future savings. However you have to have a family decision to save up items for later. So here is the question "Are future savings worth current spending?"

To answer this you have to either assume that there will be no savings later and have the money now. Or somehow having the know how to extreme coupon where you can get everything next to free even without major coupons and without committing coupon fraud. Wow what fraud? If you knowingly use a coupon when it is expired or for any items that are not listed on the coupon, even if the coupon does not pick up on it being used on the wrong item, it is fraud. Plus purchasing so much that you clean the shelves is bad coupon ettiquete.

So how to coupon and make it worth it without doing the wrong thing and without spending so much time on it that it is dumb. Well carry your coupons, subscribe to other peoples work on coupon focused sites, and look at sales. Also always always always shop from a list only. If you can get more than one for the same price by using a coupon you can stockpile a bit without angering the spouse.

Check out the coupon sites! These ladies and gentlemen are genious!

Newest obsession

2011-05-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

Okay so my newest obsession is couponing. I have never watched extreme couponing. But I think the idea of legally using coupons to get free and cheap items it excellent. So I decided to try my hand at the couponing game! I am using several crazy couponers sites to help me out and save me the ton of time that they put into this. Here are a few:

Go Momma Coupons

Wheel 'n Deal Mama

Must Love Coupons

Raining Hot Coupons

Family Friendly Frugality

These are a great start and they also have FB sites where they post freebies and specials so you can see great deals without searching or going to each individual site! Good Luck Couponers!

Cell isolation and beyond.. ond.. ond...ond...

2011-01-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

So having been touched by cancer through my step-fathers battle and also seeing people in my little bloggersphere being touched by cancer as well it got me thinking about what is going on and what technology is out there to further the fight for the good. Most people are well versed in chemo and radiation having been Saint Jude commercialed to death in our life times with the sweet and sad faces of little cancer fighters on the front lines of the battle. So what is out there. I have some knowledge of this as my stepfather recently went through some of this.

This is a relatively new treatment in all areas. Stem cells are the frontier of treatment for a wide variety of things. And before you get all killing babies and fetuses maybe I should remind all that apposed to what the stem cell protestors have communicated the stem cell as the horrid things stem cells are throughout our body. As urbandictionary.com defines it: "Cells that maintain the ability to replicate them selves as well as form other cells of the body. Two major classifications exist; embryonic stem cells which are tot potent or pluri potent and can make any cell of the organisms body and adult or tissue specific stem cells which are multipotent and can produce only a limited range of cell types. Often confused by the laymen and stupid right-wing politicians as tiny little babies but really more similar to dandruff than babies." So we are talking about the cells throughout our body. Such as in bone marrow. They can now extract the bone marrow from your body, use cell isolation technology to clean it, and put it back in. This is safer than the old methods of user donor marrow because it is more likely to be accepted by your body. This treatment has had very positive outcomes in helping cancer patients and providing longer periods that are cancer free and possibly taking it out of the picture in the future for good.

The company STEMCELL technology has a lot of different ways that they offer to utilize cell isolation to use positive and negative selection to isolate the cells. In positive selection they label desired cells and then using negative selection they target the bad cells and leave the labeled cells untouched. So basically it is similar to the student labeling we see in some school where they label children as gifted and accelerate them, label the troubled students ad put them in a corner, and leave those who have no label untouched to succeed or fail by their own devices. But that is for another blog and is not advisable where what STEMCELL technology is doing is excellent.

Some of the products that STEMCELL technology offers are:

"EasySep®
EasySep® is a powerful immunomagnetic column-free cell isolation system that uses specific antibodies to target cells and crosslink them to magnetic particles. Cells can be magnetically labeled either for selection (of desired cells) or depletion (of unwanted cells), and are then separated using an EasySep® magnet.

"RoboSep®
RoboSep® is the first instrument to offer true walk-away automation of immunomagnetic cell isolation by performing all EasySep® cell labeling and magnetic separation steps. Set-up is simple: just load your samples and reagents and return to separated cells in as little as 25 minutes.

"RosetteSep
RosetteSep® is a rapid cell separation method for the isolation of highly purified cells directly from human whole blood. RosetteSep® turns a simple density centrifugation step into a specific antibody-mediated cell enrichment procedure.

"StemSep®
StemSep® is an immunomagnetic column-based cell isolation system. Cells are labeled with specific antibodies and are crosslinked to StemSep® Magnetic Particles, then separated using a column held in a magnet. StemSep can be used for both positive (selection of desired cells) or negative (depletion of unwanted cells) selection."

Basically what all of that is saying is that STEMCELL technology is working hard to utilize cell isolation to help you. Not only with cancer but that is the easiest example of how cell isolation helps you and me. Imagine what is on the next wave of technology. For me I will leave these things to the expert and will trust in them to help me and mine stay healthy and happy for a long time an keep "one disease to rule them all" or cancer as defined by UrbanDictionary away.

Motherhood Seek and Find...

2011-01-22T17:18:00.000-08:00

So as a Mom (or Dad depending on your role in the family) we get to graduate from the Where's Waldo world of seeking and finding interesting things in pictures to our own grown up live version of seek and find. Some of those games are:

Find the shoe- you can always find at least one shoe, however the second shoe is generally hiding in some obscure to very obvious place to be found at a later date when finding it does not matter in the slightest and you will forget either finding it or if you are fortunate enough to remember you have since forgotten where the other is.

Finding the blankie, the nook, the pacie, the whatever security item is needed for rest in general- in this game you frantically search the house, car, or where ever you are for said item. All the while you have a whining little creature following you crying about wanting to find the said item. This generally ends with peace of mind when the item is found and the creature has tuckered itself out from all the whining in the hunt. When the item is not recovered better prepare your straight jacket because it will be a battle of epic proportions to get the creature to sleep and then it will be your turn to pass out from the hunt. Sometimes this game ends in screaming and saying "if you had kept up with it it would not be lost so deal with it."

Find the smell- This game involves searching the house, car, or fridge for what is causing the terrible smell to fill said space. This ends in disgusting cleaning work or simply trashing the toxic waste

Find the keys- For some reason the small creatures that live with us like the clanking sounds that keys make and feel that your keys are necessary for the sound as well as playing house. So you search high and low and finally find the keys in the logical place... the toy box

So the next time you are playing an adult seek and find remember to stop and smile since these games do come with cuddles, giggles, and the reward of watching those little creatures become wonderful people!

Now that I am unemployed...

2011-01-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

A little break from my recent yarn for a little fun about the situation I currently find myself in...

Now that I am unemployed I can...

Research all of those big career tracks that I would love to have but don't qualify for and don't have the money to get the degree to qualify for them.

Write the next American Novel in all that spare time that two children under 4 give me.

Clean the house as the afore mentioned children under 4 tear through it.

Learn to bake like a pro when I am not making fish sticks, grilled cheese, PB&J, and the many other kiddo faves.

Catch up on the scrapbooking and try to ensure that the living room is not covered in glitter when the kiddos want to "help."

Sleep in a little later or at least until my three year old comes and wakes me up.

Play on Facebook for brief periods all day long.

Find a play group and see what that is like and if it really is a cut throat world of Mom's and my kid is better than yours.

Try out this Mother's day out concept if I can manage the money out of the budget to do so.

Read those magazines that come in the mail that I never had a chance to read before.

Cook meals instead of "warming things up" (Courtesy of Johnson home boys)

Check on my unemployment, CHIPS, WIC, and TANF statuses online since we now qualify due to my lack of income.

Realize that I am becoming exactly what I did not want to be with the above item.

Try to decide what to do next.

Watch stupid movies while I fold laundry.

And the best in this list is that I get to spend the days with my kids while they are still small.

Here is the deal. I lost my job on Monday. This was a shock to me and my family and seemed to come out of nowhere. It was not a good situation as there was no warning or predicating issue at work anywhere near this time. So now we are crunching numbers and deciding what to do from here. Keeping positive through this.

Deny not chocolate!

2011-01-17T10:25:00.000-08:00

Sooo I absolutely love some chocolate. Also some PB. And sometimes some... We all have our lists of likes. No matter how you word it pretty much every diet out there says not to deny yourself what you like. You are more likely to quit and loose all motivation if you think you cannot ever have what you would like. So first off according to data I could find 95% of D-words fail.

Look at that. Crazy! So we aren't up against great odds really. I mean even within those 5% that were successful, how many will rebound. Rebound is common and it is because most of us Yo-yo through our D-words hoping for results and when we get them yo-yo back again but further. More like a yo-yo on a bungee cord and less like a string. Soooo what do we do. Once agian foods don't have to be tasteless. We can have what we like. Read those nutrition labels and have the serving.

Servings are cruel cruel jokes! Really! Ice creamo is a great example. Something that we all pretty much want to sit down and finish the pint... Well the serving is 1/4 cup sooo there could be as many as 8 servings in that countainer pending on filling. So multiply that calorie intake by 8! Can anyone say I ate Ice cream today and that is it! So look at those labels.

I love the new craze for fitness! Not only because it is good for us. But because you can find 100 calorie packs of almost anything: Chips, candy, cookie, ice cream, cereal, so on and so forth. Remember to look at labels here because some of these 100 calorie packs are a little over or under. But for a quick snack these are excellent. Plus this is the greatest way to get what you are craving but keep yourself from over doing it. Remember only eat one and not the whole box. I know I have been tempted to do that before when it was delicious!

So deny not those likes just control thine portions!

Sooo on a side not but speaking of not denying yourself. Don't deny yourself pleasure either...

There are two Eden Fantasy giveaways going on that could help you will that resolution. Check them out at

Just Because I am a Mom... Doesn't mean I can't.

Leslie Loves Veggies

What did that do?? (plus giveaway link)

2011-01-13T10:57:00.000-08:00

Okay so I am one of those people who tends to get very depressed when faced with clothing shopping. I hate it. Even before I ate the balloon and inflated it I hated it! There are a few things that I absolutely hated...

1) Looking for "my size" is so tedious because it seems no matter what size it is they only have one and it is never what I want plus I don't want Mrs. Mockingbird to know what it is in case she blasts it out for all to know.

2) I hated trying things on. They never seem to fit right or look right. Orrr it looks awesome in the store and not at all at home.

What is #1 so tedious? Because sizes vary from store to store. So what is one size at one place is not the same at the next. Styles vary from maker to maker. So research your store. Almost all stores have sizing charts online. Partly because they also sell online. So know what the size differences are and be prepared to make those shifts... I tend to like the stores where my size number is not so large, such as Maurices who for L, XL, XXL, and up it goes 0, 1, 2, etc for each X but sounds smaller.

So #2. Well stores are notorious for plans to create impulse purchases. Lighting that makes things look more slimming. Mirrors that are a cousin to the funhouse mirror that elongates and slenderizes the viewer. Music that is bothersome in some strange way that you want to get away from. And cooler temperatures that make you want to get out as well. All of these things mean impulse purchases. Things to remember here are to know the stores return policy and to know your size above. Also know your body type and what looks good on it. You know when you look good and what cuts look good. So follow what you know.

A good way to alleviate the issue in #2 is to online shop. I know what I like and what I think looks good. I get it online and have it sent to me. I try it on in my own home and with my own lighting and see what I think. If I don't like it I ship it back. Win Win Win. This is kind of a solution to #1 because you don't have to search for sizes or be in the store. Great times!

GREAT GIVEAWAY TO GO ALONG WITH THIS QUEST!

A Wrestling Addicted Mommy is giving away a copy of the book The Carb Lover's Diet that is a great help/addition to any quest to change our lives and looks. So click on the name of the blog above and enter to win!

Crisis of the pen!

2011-01-12T06:51:00.000-08:00

Tempting as it may be to not journal everything we eat... Like those Milk Duds that we swiped from the Halloween candy stash or the Reeses Bell from the leftover stocking stuffer candy it is important that we hold ourselves accountable and journal it all.

So what is accountability? Dictionary.com defines it as "the state of being accountable, liable, or answerable." We are accountable for a lot of things in our life. It is pretty difficult because being accountable is also admitting that we did something. So stop those rationalizing brains from over thinking and thinking away the need to hold ourselves accountable. We are the best people to do that for ourselves so we must start at this point. And I am no super person when it comes to this because I hate recording the cobbler or cake when I have it because I think the computer will judge me... Dang ole computer always looking at me sideways when I eat! Oh well. One of my all time favorite quotes about accountability is this one by M.Armstrong "The ancient Romans had a tradition: whenever one of their engineers constructed an arch, as the capstone was hoisted into place, the engineer assumed accountability for his work in the most profound way possible: he stood under the arch." So we need to stand under out arches of food. Unless we hold ourselves accountable we will make no change whatsoever.

So get on CalorieStory or Livestrong DailyPlate. Buy a notebook that you keep with you. Write a blog about it. But journal what you have eaten. This is not even a D-word move but more of a... I know I will eat less junk if I have to write it down but unless I hold myself to writing it down it will not affect how I eat at all move. I am with you writing away even when I hate to.

An upside to the journal! You will get a better idea of when you are most tempted to eat junk by reviewing you old logs and seeing where it is you ate junk the most. Not that junk is not okay on the occasion but there are times of day where I know that I will be tempted to eat junk that I can try to fill with something else to distract myself from that temptation.

The great search...

2011-01-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

So we all look at the bathroom scale with horror especially during a D-word.... Even fitness pros tell you that the scale is deceiving and that daily weigh ins aren't necessary because of the body's normal fluctuation daily. So what do we do?? I am more of a fan of a weekly or bi-weekly weigh in. This gives a chance for loss but without the stress of the fluctuation of up to 5lbs give you stress.

Today's tip is about meal planning. Remember to use your resources! On Livestrong.com there are some pretty excellent recipes that have healthy alternatives. But what about when you have ingredients or need to search for a specific part of the meal?? My recommendation for this is AllRecipes.com and its advanced search option where you can search for a dinner side that is low-fat, low-cal, gluten free etc and so on! Also you can search for the ingredients that you have on hand in that same search. Another alternative without as many bells and whistles is at supercook.com and it allows an ingredient search. I prefer AllRecipes because they have a vast amount of recipes. The recipes have nutrition information and you can print them with that information on the recipe making it for easy figuring later. Plus scroll on down the recipe and there is feedback from other users who have made the recipe, ratings, and notes about things that you could try differently.

I guess the biggest tip for today is that good for you is not tasteless and when you use your resources you can find some excellent things that won't cost a lot of CALORIES!

Follow the bouncing ball...

2011-01-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

A few tricks to increasing Calories burned daily... These are pretty simple and i am sure you have heard them all...

1) Drink plenty of water. Throw out that 8 glass a day rule with the 2,000 a day rule. Both are pretty worthless in the end. CalculatorsLive Daily Water requirements calculator has a great calculator that figures out how much water you shoudl drink daily based on activity level as well as weight. Drinking water is intended to replace what is lost daily. This helps clean out your system and aids in healthy body weight. And just like the Calories depending on the person the amount of water your boday needs varies. Another calculator can be found at CSGnetwork.com as the Human Water Requirement Calculator. That Calculator figures based on weight as well as exercise but it is a little more accurate since exercise is in minutes and not statements. But what sets this calculator apart is that it also includes climate since the temperature outside changes the amount of water needed. So use what you like but remember to drink you water.

2) Hoof it. Walk it. Skip it. Move. Instead of hoping in the car to travel where possible walk. At my job I usually walk to lunch at the dining hall and drive to where my clients live. I could easily walk but tend to be lazy and drive. It is faster and increases how long I can stay with the kiddos so weighed out it is worth the loss of movement. But it is pretty easy to walk or take the stairs when possible. Simple.

3) Forget the desk chair. Sitting on a balance ball, exercise ball, fitness ball could increase your dailt Calories burned by up to 350 Calories daily. This is an easy task. Yes you will look funny. But since I have been doing I think I have experienced more curious people and less what an idot people. I like it. It helps with balance and from fitness gurus it keeps your muscles activated helping with caloric burn. I like it. Simple solution for a few more calories. But remember to bring your air pump or you will eventually be sitting on the gound with a armrests.

4) Trick your mind with a smaller plate. I am a member of the clean plate club. We go way back! If there was a platinum membership I would be there. I have a lot of trouble not eating everything on my plate even when I know it is too much. So I eat it all and regret later. What the people who get the big bucks have said is that a smaller plate and a larger plate when filled will both satify the person who is eating because we are looking at the empty plate and not the amount. Weird. If it works for you then do it.

5) Slow down the scarf fest. The faster you eat the more you will eat and you might eat more than you need to. The easy solution would be to simply slow down. But when I am shoveling it in it is easier said than done. So what is the solution. Here is a rule to follow to force some slow down. After each bite put your fork/spoon down. After three bites take a sip of water and repeat. With this you pretty much have no choice but to slow down with all of this up and down of the fork.

So that was just a couple of quick tips. Take em, Leave em, or Laugh at em but thats what I got so enjoy!

New Year, New Goals, Calorie Quest 2011

2011-01-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

Soooooo "Calories"... Hmm? What can be said about Calories that does not end with screaming and running to the hills. From the dawn of man we have been obsessing about Calories... Wait not that is not right. More recent than that but it often feels like it has been a never ending OCD (esp for the more feminine crew) forever! Take me back to basics Captain!

Dictionary.com lists the definition of "Calorie" as: "cal·o·rie /ˈkæləri/ Show Spelled [kal-uh-ree] Show IPA –noun
1. Thermodynamics .
a. Also called gram calorie, small calorie. an amount of heat exactly equal to 4.1840 joules. Abbreviation: cal
b. ( usually initial capital letter ) kilocalorie. Abbreviation: Cal
2. Physiology .
a. a unit equal to the kilocalorie, used to express the heat output of an organism and the fuel or energy value of food.
b. a quantity of food capable of producing such an amount of energy."
Oh my gosh?!?! Did any of you understand that cause this is not basic enough for me let me see what else I can find...

Word Tutor has it defined as "A unit for measuring the energy that food supplies to the body."

Of course there are a couple from Urbandictionary.com that are pretty interesting: "1.The thing that makes food yuumy. The more there are the yummier it will be. Its just the law.
2. Super bad and stuff."

Whatever definition you prefer it comes down to the science that we should only have soooo many of these per day and that depends on many many many factors! If you are shorter you need less than when you are taller. If you are fatter you need less than super model stick girl down the street that you loath each morning as she runs past scarfing that bagel that you are not allowed to have. If you have an active job you need more than the paper pusher. If you are one of those people who has energy to work out after work you need more than those of us that think passing out is the best decision after work.

If those rules weren't enough to make your head spin there is also the fact that there are good calories and bad calories. Generally in the four letter D-word world the bad calories are dubbed empty calories (which are generally yummy and fit with the UrbanDictionary defninition). These are like soda, chips, candy, processed foods, etc etc to the ends of the world and whatever color of M&M that is currently rumored to cause cancer... These are foods that we are told by people more degrees than us who know that Nicolas Clement discovered them in 1824 (Thanks Wikopedia, I hope it is accurate) that make us hungry sooner and help with that fat gain along with their evil pals TRANS-FATS and COMPLEX CARBS. (insert screams) Way way way too much to know and my brain processes that I am hungry and need to search for food.

So we know that the basic model D-word is based on a 2,000 calorie intake daily. At this if you are the correct body type, age, activity level etc you should maintain a steady weight. But since we already know that 2,000 does not fit all throw that out the window... Literally write "2,000" on a piece of paper (preferrably red to highlight how evil it is) and throw it out the window. If you feel as strongly as I do you can spit on it, burn it, what not, but just know that thinking about the evil 2,000 base will just make you more confused. Soooo where do we start... We start with free resources online to find out just how many we need to stay where we are, loose, or if you are among the lucky few gain. My favorite resource is at Livestrong.com in their DailyPlate section. A basic Membership is free and really unless you want to be obsessive, which we are trying to get away from, it works. In that section you type in daily habits, weight loss goals, etc and it does the math for you (Thank you) and spits out a number that should be your goal that is not the evil 2,000. From there you tweak as you need. ALSO!!! You can use the Daily Plate to track foods and basically their site has just about every food on it and you will rarely find a food that has not been added.

If you want something to feed into your social media Facebook.com has a similar app called CalorieStory Food Diary. It is newer and has less foods but it is on FB for easy access. I use this in combination with Livestrong due to the limited foods on CalorieStory currently. This should change the longer it is out because people are adding foods daily. Did you catch that last part "people are adding foods daily"? That is something to remember because people are falible and well you need to watch and avoid those too good to be true man I wish it were true calorie numbers and double check on more trusted sites. CalorieStory automatically starts with 1300 daily but you can change it basically the same way with less sophisticated means. Livestrong is more detailed because it asks activity level etc whereas CalorieStory does not. Use what is out there and check both out.

So my E-V-I-L D-word journey has begun. I will enlighten when possible about my steps and if my lazy day wishing that the evil yummy super bad law measures of heat that make my head spin Calories would simplify where I could just eat works out we can all rejoice! Or I can rejoice and you can look at me like I am nuts. Either way. Here is wishing you all fat bank accounts and slim bodies... One day!

Correction from CalorieStory: User can add their own foods and calories but they are unique to the user and cannot be used gloablly by other users of the app. The crew at CalorieStory is working on adding new foods daily to beef up what is available on their end.

Great holiday giveaways at the holiday gift buying guide event by blog A Wreslting Addicted Mom

2010-12-23T07:42:00.001-08:00

First up Holiday Help: Pack & Ship with Fedex this Holiday Season *Giveaway* (12/25) in which you can win a great Fedex Package to help them with their holiday shipping. The winner’s package will include: an 8x8x8 brown FedEx box, a roll of heavy-duty packing tape, bubble wrap, brown packing paper, Holiday-themed address cards to put inside your packed box, a $25 American Express gift card to ship your gifts at any FedEx location, a pack & ship tips sheet loaded with helpful info FedEx packaging experts. Giveaway ends December 25, 2010 at 11:59pm ET and is open to those with a US mailing address. Good luck! (click the words pack and ship and enter)

Next up is a Gifts For Kids: Playskool MUSICAL GEAR CENTER *Giveaway* (12/26) where you can win a Musical Gear Center for their little one or to give as a gift to someone else. Giveaway ends December 26, 2010 at 11:59pm ET and is open to those with a US mailing address. Good Luck! (Click the word Playskool to go to the site and enter)

Next up is Gifts For Kids: Play-Doh Backpack *Giveaway* (12/26). You can win a Play-Doh Backpack for their kids or as a gift for someone else. Giveaway ends December 26, 2010 at 11:59pm ET and is open to those with a US mailing address. Good Luck! (click Pay-Doh to be taken to the site to enter)

Next is Gifts For Kids: Tonka Mod Machine & Tonka Tread Shifter *Giveaway* (12/26). You could win a Tonka Mod Machines and a Tonka Tread Shifters (chosen by Hasbro). Giveaway ends December 26, 2010 at 11:59pm ET and is open to those with a US mailing address. (click Tonka to go to the site and enter)

Next is Stocking Stuffers: Aardvark Scarfs from Admiral Road *Giveaway* (12/28. You can win a collection of random Aardvark Scarfs from Admiral Road. (Collection of scarves will be chosen at random from Admiral Road. Giveaway ends December 28, 2010 at 11:59pm ET and is open to those in the US and Canada. (Click Aardvark to go to the site and enter)

The Artist Strikes again... Mommy turns red!

2010-08-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

The Artist

So the little artist strikes again with a vengence. Here he is after all was said and done hiding from the camera like a celeb from bad publicity. I think he is learning that I tell people these things. His own personal inquirer.

So what happened... We got home early due to a contact malfunction. It was terrible, enough said. I was so proud of my little artist as he asks to use the potty. I send him upstairs since the little lady was sleeping and he would have to travel through her room to use the facilities since the route through his room is baracaded due to other artistic feats. So he goes upstairs and I hear shuffling. I can't yell because as I said little lady is napping and I do not want to wake her. So I wait a few minutes. Soon the artist returns and is saying something about his ball having something on it. So I look. It kinda looks like bubble gum so I touch it out of confusion. What is this... PAINT! I then really look at him and he is covered in paint on his shirt, pants, feet, hands. ARGH! I ask him why he got into the paint. He said "I don't know."

So I then have to go and look at the damage upstairs. I am nervous I mean who knows what I could find. I walk slowly up the stairs breathing all the way. I then see this... only the begining...

Paint on the game chair. Then I go and look around the corner and see this...

Paint on the table and DVD holder Hubby made. But I look down, where I had been to nervous to look and there is more!

PAINT ON THE FLOOR! I look to see what kind of paint is on the carpet. Finger crossed for acrylic that I have some chance of scrubbing out of the carpet... I see my paint brush tackle box that I inherited from my grandmother. NOOOO! I had purchased fabric paint for baby gifts earlier in the year so I could do a special Ugly doll burp cloth and still have it be washable without affecting the picture. Oh he had found my very permanent fabric paint and put it on the carpet. So I wiped up what I could and now have beautiful carpet.

Later I was doing something and looked at my cat and found this...

Poor Squall couldn't even escape the mad artists muse and got painted as well. So I anxiously await the reaction of hubby who does not know yet and will be none to thrilled. Oh the artist and their craft.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

Froggy Weather

When we were driving to work this morning it was really foggy and a small artist voice from the back announced that it was "Froggy Weather out!"

The Half Dirty Home...

2010-08-17T04:26:00.000-07:00

The half dirty home...

So Hubby believes due to someone telling him at some point that it is the woman’s job to cook, clean, and take care of the kids and if he feels like it he can pitch in. I was raised on a very different note where both equally clean, cook, and take care of the kids. I would say that IF one person is not working then it is more their job to do those things but IF both parties are working it is 50-50. While I would never claim to really always do my 50 I try my best.

I tend to understand a simple concept known as the band-aid clean. This is the idea that you get things clean enough to be presentable without killing yourself in the process until such time you are able to do more. This is very important since I work full time and commute and hour each way to work. By the time I get home I am exhausted from being up and have zero energy for anything. So I band-aid clean at times to get by. I do dishes regularly and do the laundry mainly for the kiddos and myself. I let hubs get his own because I get this kids. I cook when I am able and do sandwiches sometimes. I expect Hubby to take out the trash and do the lawn. I expect everyone to pick up their own trash around the house and get dishes to the sink. I am pretty good at getting my own and kiddos stuff on most days. Hubby is a fan of the mountain of cans.

I swear he tries to see how high he can get it before it annoys me to the point I pick it up. The same with dishes. He knows that at some point I will get annoyed and pick it up. It really bothers me to no end. So I feel like I am picking up his trash, cans, dishes, and socks from random places around the house. I like a clean home but man! I am not a maid when I work a full time job as well that is not how it works.

Hubby is not devoid of cleaning ability but he likes a thorough clean. And I mean THOROUGH! We are talking hours on small rooms. Hubby spent three hours in my little artist man's room and got it looking excellent! He did a wonderful job. But then my three year old made a toothpaste floor wash as seen in "The Artist Burst Forth". A band-aid job would have worked but he was thorough.

Thoroughness in my book keeps me from having a cleaner house because if you spend too much tie in one room you don't get to the others so what is the use of only having one clean room in the house when you could have several pretty clean rooms. So as the woman I am expected to do the rest and to that I say well cleaning is 50-50 and if only one room gets clean and I am busy picking up dishes, doing dishes, doing the kids laundry, putting together the cloth dipes for the little girl, then I guess the house if 50% dirty because I am more than a full time worker and a maid and I will take time to relax when I am home.

Garage Sale... Blunder

2010-08-17T04:24:00.000-07:00

So we set up for the garage sale bright and early. I went around and put up signs at great locations close by so people would see them and come to my garage sale. I set out all of the stuff and it looked pretty good. I was sooo sure with baby stuff up for grabs that they would flock to the sale to grab cheaper stuff. It looked nice with my friend Teran and kiddos waiting.

We waited and waited. Teran went to put up some other signs further out. No one really came. FAIL! I felt defeated really. So I drive to get some soda. Someone had torn down all of my signs in the locations that were close that were important to get people to the garage sale and to get the word out. And the really important intersections now had a sign for a sale down the street from mine on the same day. I was sooo angry. I sat outside and worked my bum off for someone to just tear down all of my signs and replace the great intersection ones with their own when it is only logical that two garage sales close together would get more of a crowd than one so they would have increased patronage not lost it to me. Grrr! I am steamed over this. I not only got a sunburn and sat outside all day for almost nothing but that was just a really rude thing to do. I have their address so it is really tempting to go and talk to them about this because it was just uncalled for. Now my living room really did not change all that much. Oh well. Fail blog it is for this garage sale but I still contend that Hubby is wrong about garage sales and had my signs been left intact that I would have proved it.

The Artist Burst Forth... Mommy Remembers to Breath

2010-08-17T04:11:00.000-07:00

Sooo my son is an artist! He loves to paint and draw and have a grand old time! He is also a nice little artist who loves to clean up after himself and worries when he does not. He is such a sweet little cutie. We have been working on potty training recently with our little artist and he has been doing excellent. So we decided to open up the hallway door closest to the bathroom, normally he exits through a door that leads to the kitchen, which was previously barricaded closed to keep him out of the things in the bathroom he should not play with.

I sat him down and lovingly talked about opening the door for him and what it meant. I explained that now that he is a big artist he does not wear diapers to bed and will need to get up and use the potty when he needs to go. He understands and nods happily. I explain gently that this means that he should only go to the bathroom when he needs to go and not play in the bathroom or get into things. I ask him what I said and he repeats ever so sweetly. When he does mess up I let him know that it is okay but he knows better than to get into things in the bathroom and that if he does it again he will lose the privilege.

FAST FORWARD TO NAP A FEW WEEKS LATER…

Little artist is napping ever so nicely and ever so quietly… I decide to go check on him and make sure he does not need to use the restroom. What is this I find…

My little artist had created a loved masterpiece out of …

Yes, toothpaste. He said he was painting and cleaning the floor and used not one but…

Two tube of toothpaste on the beautiful floor. It smells like someone filled my home with fake mints and they melted and because a veritable gas strike on my home. I took a deep breath and saw the humor in the situation. I smiled sweetly at my lovely little boy and looked at the lovely masterpiece. I then walked out and got water and soap together. I sweetly took my little boy and explained to him that he now had to clean the mess and…

He did. Needless to say the hallway will be barricaded for a little longer.

Buddha Bunz Review & Giveaway!!!

2010-08-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

CLOSED

According to Random.org #82 wins out of a choice of 1 to 92 comments, so due to my weird glitch and every comment counting as two I had to double the number and... #164 wins!!! Congrats to Lindsey who said "I tweeted.
http://twitter.com/lindseygalvez/status/22084533641"
Lindsey has 48 hrs to get back to or I will have to redraw!

http://www.buddhabunz.com/

I am in love love love love with my Buddha Bunz! They are like my little magic miracle workers in my dryer! They are cute! They smell great! They save me money over time! Cha-Ching! Who does not want to save money! They come in cool colors and their maker is a Firefighter! Need I go on? This girl makes these and fights fires! Buddha Bunz for the uninformed are wool dryer balls that you put in the dryer and they help your clothes dry and reduce static in the place of conventional dryer sheets. These are eco friendly and Cloth Diaper friendly for those cloth diaper moms out there! Up until I found these my cloth diapers were lonely in the dryer with no help on drying and softening. Yes my laundry feels softer with these in the mix!

So basically what I do is wash with my Rockin Green and then throw everything in the dryer where my Buddha Bunz now reside full time! I have 8 Buddha Bunz! A little addicted, they note a difference with even as few as one or two but the more ya got the bigger the difference and it is also dependent on what you are washing and dryer model. So I throw my laundry in there and I can set it for half the amount of time that I used to set it for because of these lovelies. My Cloth dipes are softer and my towels are a dream!

The scented Buddha Bunz are scented with natural oils that are safe for CDs (yay yummy smelling cds)! There are a ton of wonderful scents. Go here to check them all out! My favs are Sweet Orange and Monkey Farts! They are great even with the funny names. It is like a wonderful citrus smell! Mine live in harmony in my dryer making my clothing smell great! Others that I have heard people loving are Hillbilly Homebrew, Orange Cream, and Cupcake! The great thing is is that she will sell you a little vial of scent to re-scent your own Buddha Bunz or you can send them back and pay a small fee and she will resent to balls for you and send them back so even when the balls run out of scent all is not lost! How excellent is that!

Not only does Buddha Bunz have excellent colors and scents they also have great deal and giveaways because Melinda loves her fans! Monthly there is a fan based vote for the color of the month! Yes FAN BASED. For those of us used to big huge feelingless companies something based on what we want seems a little strange but bear with me here. She gets on her facebook and asks for votes and then puts the most popular on sale as the Color of the Month. May was Purple, June was Blue, July was Red, and August is Green! So how excellent is that? Then she also does random undyed ball sales dropping the price by two dollars! But that is not all on Facebook at any milestone or anniversary she usually give away free balls, wool wash, and her excellent Boo boo Bum Spray that I have not had the chance to try yet but I am telling you from what I have read/heard it sounds AWESOME!

They have decorated balls that are gorgeous! I have seen numerous pictures on their facebook fan page:
Everyone loves them! I have packed Buddha Bunz in my suitcase because they smell so awesome and have even heard of Hubby’s running off with them out of town, on deployment, and to work because they are sooo excellent. We are sold on Buddha Bunz at our house so I urge you all to go and check em out on their website http://www.blogger.com/buddhabunz.com! Also even if you don’t wanna see the pics on facebook check out the facebook page because you will not find better fans anywhere and Melinda the maker of the Buddha Bunz is an awesome person who makes comments all the time and just shows her heart and love for what she does as well as her customers throughout her posts. Get on there! Get to know the maker! And fall in love with all things Buddha Bunz! Heck try ordering some Monkey Fart Blue Balls they are excellent!
(*^ -^*) Giggle, Giggle (｡♥‿♥｡) Only on the FB fan page will you encounter a bunch of grown women giggling about wanting blue balls! So enjoy!

Soooo now the fun begins… Melinda at Buddha Bunz the firefighting wool dryer ball making mommy with ambition has generously offered to give one of my readers two undyed dryer balls scented to the scent of their choice! Woo Hoo! What does that mean for all of you out in the blog world??? Well an awesome chance to win Buddha Bunz that’s what! You must complete the mandatory entry or all other entries will not be counted and then of course there will be extra entries to sweeten the deal. Entry can start NOW and ends 11:59:59 p.m. CDT on Sunday August 29th at which point I will use Random.org to pick a WINNER! I will email that winner on Monday August 30th and they will have 48 hrs to respond with their Name, Address, Phone number, and choice of scent! All entries must have email address included in comment (can be alternate form to reduce spamming). Remember to leave a separate comment for multiple additional entries and number for reference (ex. Blogged it! 1/5, Blogged it! 2/5, etc)

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Head on over to Buddha Bunz and let me know what scent you want to try if you win and follow my blog publicly.

EXTRA SWEET ENTRIES:

1) Fan/Like Buddha Bunz on FB and let them know that TFJ sent you and what you like most about their products or what product you would like to try

2) Go here and vote for my sweetie! (2- entries; You can do this once every 24 hrs)

3) Follow Buddha Bunz on Twitter

4) TWEET: “Gotta love @BuddhaBunz and get me some monkey fart balls from @saramousy and the TFJ giveaway http://tinyurl.com/2e683mf” You can tweet once per day (leave permalink)

5) BLOG IT! Blog about this giveaway and tell me where to find it! (5 entries)

6) Grab my blog button and tell me where to find it (3 entries)

**DISCLAIMER** The author of this blog was not given any money or merchandise for this review.

The Fish and the Mouse host a Garage Sale!

2010-08-11T16:13:00.001-07:00

The Fish and the Mouse Host a Garage Sale!

If a fish and a mouse fell in love where would they live? Well a fish and a mouse should never fall in love because it is just not natural. But if they did the mouse would need to learn to swim. Compromise is a part of every relationship that you will ever be in during your lifetime. There are many compromises that you might not realize that you have made so they come naturally and you don’t even think about it. There are several times a day even that you are compromising and it takes no real effort. Sooo why is it so hard to compromise with spouses?
So the hubs I would say to me is my personal “fish” and I am the “mouse” who is working to compromise and learn to swim so we can live together. There are situations of course where I am the “fish” and he is the “mouse” learning to swim like with home décor but that is neither here nor there because I being human am self centered.
This weekend is GARAGE SALE weekend. Woo Hoo! So this is my first ever I am hosting it and selling my things as an adult. What a milestone I am about to embark on. Hubs of course in the dutiful “fish” role maintains that GARAGE SALE’s are dumb because you take an entire day out of your life to not make much $$$$$$-> money <-$$$$$$ and it seems like a waste “lets just take it all to the donation center or throw it away” and “I will believe it when I see it” and “Do it on your time.” So that is exactly what I did. I planned my own GARAGE SALE where I will not share the $$$$$$-> money <-$$$$$$ because he is not helping and he wanted to “lets just take it all to the donation center or throw it away.” So I set the date on Facebook and asked for help with the kiddos for the day so that there was no going back. Then I went through the attic and drug boxes downstairs. Phew it was a lot of work getting all the crap gathered together! Once again no help so no $$$$$$-> money <-$$$$$$ for him! Hubs and I have been talking about family size and whether or not we want more than the two rugrats that we have now. He has said that he wants to adopt which is really noble of him. I always wanted to adopt and well as I have gotten older the desire has faded a bit honestly. I was adopted so I love the idea of it. But here is the catch you never know what you will get and it is expensive. I have two excellent kiddos and they take all my available $$$$$$-> money <-$$$$$$ so adopting seems out of the picture for me really. So he would love another but he wants to adopt, which is a difficult prospect for me because I work with kids and know what a can of worms it can be. I would love to adopt really I avoid the adoption websites that have kiddos on em because I fall in love and want to run and get them that minute. But back on topic I decided to sell all the baby stuff if more babies are not a part of plan than there is no use in packing it away to be stored forever and ever and ever! So currently my main room is stacked to the ceiling with CRAP from the attic and kitchen to be sold. I unloaded the stuff in the kitchen and so many things we got from our wedding showers are awesome and cool gadgets that I just never use so why have them in my kitchen if they are going to sit and collect dust? So I am selling selling selling! I planned it on a Saturday because that is the day that Brad works so it will not bother him as much. I told him that I want to try this and see how it goes and if it is crash and burn I will know better next time and if it works out and is great than -> I am right!<- and he is >WRONG<>

Pictures of the Chaos of my Garage Sale planning!!!

Wordless Wednesday!

2010-08-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

Ha ha this wordless Wednesday is a play for votes... LOL yes yes I need as many votes as possible on my Daughters adorable pic of her playing in the pool in the Rayovac Summer Fun Photo contest to try and win a new wonderful digital Camera so scroll below the pic and click the link and hit VOTE you can vote once every 24 hrs!

(¯`’•.¸(¯`’•.¸*♫♪♫♪*¸.•’´¯)¸.• ‘´¯)
♫(¯`’•.¸(¯`’•.¸*♫♪*¸.•’´¯)¸.•’ ´¯)♫
♫♪(¯`’•.¸(¯`’•.¸**¸.•’´¯)¸.•’´ ¯)♫♪
>>>–==-PLEASE VOTE!!-==–<<<

http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/45512/voteable_entries/6997746?order=votes

Sensible Shoppers is giving away a sodastream

2010-08-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Senisible Shoppers Sodastream Giveaway

So I love giveaways chances! I really love the sodastream! It is an excellent soda carbonating system and soda syrup system that not only reduces what you would spend on soda but also the bottles used, gas used to ship bottles or go get more soda, and it is healthier than OTC soda! So Woo Hoo another sodastream giveaway! go to the lonk above to enter and try your hand at winning!Senisble Shoppers and Extreme Personal Measures is giving away a Soda Stream system!"Giveaway ends on August 15, 2010 at 11:59 pm EST."

http://sensibleshoppers.blogspot.com/2010/07/sodastream-review-giveaway.html

http://www.extremepersonalmeasures.com/

Woo Hoo Major great giveaways!

2010-08-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some excellent giveaways to enter!

Win a Sodastream from Lovelyritaann Going Bananas over giveaways! "This giveaway will end at 9 PM PST on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010."

http://lovelyritaann.com/2010/08/03/sodastream-review-giveaway-ends-817/

Mommy Kat and Kids is giving away a $50 goft card to CSN! that means opportunity!
"Giveaway ends 11:59 pm CST on August 21, 2010. Open to US and Canada"

http://tinyurl.com/2b35ser

Slice 'O Heaven is giving away a $150 gift card to Peekaboo Beans where they have some super cute kids stuff! Check it out! " * Giveaway will be open until Wednesday August 25th @ 9pm PST.
* Void where prohibited by law.
* No Purchase necessary - Nor will it increase your chances of winning."

http://www.peekaboobeans.com/

http://www.sliceoheaven.us/2010/07/summertime-must-have-peekaboo-beans.html

Leslie Loves Veggies is giving away a waffle maker from Cuisinart! Check it out! "Giveaway will end on Wednesday 8/25. Continental U.S. entrants only."

http://tinyurl.com/2c58sob

Another Sodastream giveaway for you guys to look into is from the Frugal Novice! It ends August 26th!

http://frugalnovice.com/2010/08/sodastream-review-giveaway/#comments

More Sodastream action with the possibility to win a Sodastream Fountain Jet from Spoil Your Family and Annette FunnyJello! Head over and enter... Giveaway ends 8/27/2010 11:59 PM CST!

http://annettefunnyjello.com/2010/08/sodastream-giveaway-spoil-your-family/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fairyblogmotherblog+(annettefunnyjello.com)

Double your chances to win the Sodastream being given away by entering at Mama Makes Money! Mama Makes Money and Annette FunnyJello are jointly giving away one SodaStream so that is double the entries into the giveaway of 1 Sodastream between the two of them. Basically there is only 1 sodastream to be given away jointly between the two blogs and only 1 winner. So why not double your entries into the giveaway! This giveaway ends on Friday August 27, 2010 at 11:59 PM CST

http://mamamakesmoney.net/sodastream-spoil-your-family-review-giveaway-49/

CLOSED!!

Soda stream giveaway at Sisterly Savings!

http://sisterlysavings.net/2010/07/sss-sodastream

CLOSED!!

Win a Soda stream from bookroomreview!
Contest ends on August 10th at midnight.
Winner will be chosen by Random.Org

http://www.bookroomreviews.com/2010/07/28/sodastream-home-drink-maker-review-and-giveaway/

CLOSED!!

Mommies with Cents is giving away The Secret Ingredient Cookbook! Run over and check it out! "This giveaway is open until August 10, 2010 at 11:59 pm CST to U.S."

http://www.mommieswithcents.com/2010/08/review-giveaway-the-secret-ingredient-cookbook-by-sally-bee.html

CLOSED!!

A Deeply Superficial Person (really funny blog by the way and worth checking out for something other than cool giveaway) is giving away a mondo major wonderful and dare I say BEST MAKEUP STASH! So what you need to do is jog on over the the link below (you know the drill) and check it out. It is easy as pie to enter and well worth the chance to win. You know I am entered! Contest will be open till August 11th, 9pm CST!

http://adeeplysuperficialperson.blogspot.com/2010/08/its-giveaway.html

CLOSED!
Mocha Dad is giving away Photoshop! We all take pics and need to touch up etc so jog on over to the address below and enter to win! "Mocha Dad’s “Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 Summertime Contest” starts on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 and ends Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. (CST), and is open to all Mocha Dad readers, subscribers, and/or fans in the continental U.S. and Canada. No purchase required. Relatives and employees of Mocha Dad are not eligible to win. Winners will be chosen via Random.org and announced on Tuesday, August 17, 2010."

http://www.mochadad.com/adobe-photoshop-elements-8-summertime-contest/

CLOSED!
Win a sodastream from Momstart! This giveaway ends August 16th,

http://momstart.com/2010/07/christmas-in-july-sodastream-giveaway/

CLOSED!
Woo More Soda Stream giveaways at Two Classy Chicks! Giveaway end 8/16/2010! shoot over and enter!

http://twoclassychics.blogspot.com/2010/07/product-review-giveaway-sodastream.html#comment-form

Win a Princess Party Giveaways!

2010-08-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

PRINCESS GIVEAWAYS

HEY WANNA BE A PRINCESS? Have a PIRATE or a PRINCE at home as well and the PRINCESS PARTY packs above just don't help with that? Well then glide on over to Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House because they are also having a Princess event where they are giving some awesome stuff away!

Giveaway #1: A giveaway that already started and is through the Princess Party To Go is an awesome giveaway for your Princess Pirate combo because instead of a princess part pack it is a $150 gift card and free shipping ($170 value) so you can throw that excellent part for those coed siblings and buddies! "Contest ends August 30th at 11:59pm EST on when I will draw a winner at random."

http://www.twoofakindworkingonafullhouse.com/2010/08/my-princess-party-to-go-pirate-and.html

Giveaway #2: Guidecraft Pastel Dress up carousel: Okay so when I was younger I would have killed for this! It has a place on one side to hang up costumes etc with cubbies for your ruby slippers and tiaras and a mirror on the other side to do hair, make up etc! This is the perfect little girls dress up accessory. So Two of a Kind, Working on a full house is giving it away! “Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Aug 30th when I will draw a winner at random.”

http://www.twoofakindworkingonafullhouse.com/2010/08/guidecraft-pastel-dress-up-carousel.html

ALL HOME GROWN FAMILY PRINCESS GIVEAWAYS CLOSED!
Home Grown Families is hosting a slew of giveaways that could create the ultimate princess party for your little princess like I hope it will for mine!
Go to http://homegrownfamilies.blogspot.com/ to see them all!

Ending August 12th is the Princess Party To Go Review and Giveaway where you can win 4 sets of Princess costumes for your little girl and her frineds! "Open to U.S only( Not including Hawaii or Alaska)!- Giveaway will run until August 12th!"

http://homegrownfamilies.blogspot.com/2010/07/miracles-happen-princess-party-to-go.html

Ending August 13th is the Bunny Prints Personalized invitations!Win 30 beautiful personlized invitations for yor little one's special day! "Open to U.S only!- Giveaway will run until August 13th!"

http://homegrownfamilies.blogspot.com/2010/07/miracles-happen-bunny-prints.html

Ending August 15th are the Design 2B sweet party supplies! Win a $35 dollar gift certificate to get the supplies you need to throw a great bash for your little one! "Open to U.S only!- Giveaway will run until August 15th!"

http://homegrownfamilies.blogspot.com/2010/08/miracles-happen-designed-2b-sweet-party.html

Angus, Thongs, and Serious Snogging is the Bridget Jones of the Tween world…

2010-07-16T07:28:00.000-07:00

I love movies that my hubby tells me are way too young for me. Why? Because of the innocence of that age. Even in situations that are not soo innocent there is an innocent approach to things. Plus I myself was never a wild child or an outgoing boy crazy flirt… Okay I did flirt and I was boy crazy but I was not going around kissing guys for no reason other than boredom or practice when I was a teenager high schooler. I had my first kiss at 18 my first year of college at the Christmas party on the fourth floor of my dorm (I lived on the sixth) in the suite of the guys that I hung out with and chilled with that year. If you could not find me that year I was either in that suite watching TV/hanging out or at Crosswalk. Well back to the first kiss. I was all set to have a special perfect first kiss; I mean I saved it for how long? Well a gay guy was a little drunk and kept complimenting me on my blue eyes and showing me pics of his boyfriend. Almost out of nowhere he cornered me between the door and the microfridge and laid one on me. I tried to duck but he put his hand under my arm. Sooo after that I did not care as much. But that said it is pretty obvious that I did not have the wild social high school experience that is in TV shows and movies about the high school experience so I live vicariously through the innocent misgivings of the youth in the shows.

Angus, Thongs, and Serious Snogging is a very cute movie in which Georgia falls in love with Robbie the new boy. This is a great English movie much like Bridget Jones. Where Bridget Jones was an English quirky love story for older High Schoolers and College Students Angus is a movie great from the Middle School bunch and younger High Schoolers. On the first day of school Georgia falls hard for new boy rocker Robbie and plots how to get him. Her exploits include practice kissing with the go-to kissing coach at the school who falls for her but she hates his slobbery love, pretending to lose her cat to meet and spend time with Robbie, orange legs, and bleach hair. All through this her father moves for work and her mother is acting strange. The biggest hurtle though is the beautiful blonde that Robbie is dating. It is a great movie where you laugh and you really feel for the awkward and quirky Georgia who only wants that perfect high school experience and the perfect boy by her side throughout it.

ROCKIN GIVEAWAYS!!!! Ouchie giveaways! & many more!

2010-07-13T06:30:00.000-07:00

There are tons of giveaways out there! These are some I have found and love! Remember pretty much all of these link for giveaways the author of the blog has manymany other giveaways that are worth checking out! Enjoy!

Some other giveaways:

I am Wicked Cheap: "I Hate to Cook Book." "The publisher has agreed to provide TWO of my readers with a copy of the I HATE TO COOK BOOK (open to residents of the US AND CANADA). This giveaway ends at midnight EST on July 21st and is open to residents of the US and CANADA. The winning entry will be chosen by a Random Number Generator and the winner will be contacted via email. The winner is responsible for providing ME with their name and address. If I do not hear from the winner within 48 hours I will have no choice but to choose another winner."

http://iamwickedcheap.com/2010/07/11/wicked-cool-giveaway-the-i-hate-to-cook-book/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+iamwickedcheap%2FqJea+%28I+am+wicked+cheap%21%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail

OUCHIE GIVEAWAYS!

Check out all of the styles at:
http://ouchiesonline.com/bandages/series/mr-men-little-miss

Double Duty Mom: Giving away a pack of 20 cute ouchies in your choice of style! "Giveaway is open USA ONLY & will close on July 20th, 2010 at 9pm EST! Random.org will be used to choose the winner who will then have 48 hours to respond to my email before a new winner is chosen. Good luck!"

http://www.doubledutymommy.com/2010/06/showering-mommy-baby-giveaway-event_29.html

Following Tuesdays with Twee!

2010-06-29T04:11:00.000-07:00

See new cool blogs and find new awesome giveaways! Meet, be social, and greet!

Tuesday Tag-Along button art adapted from the "Follow the Leader" illustration by Diana Jones. I encourage you to visit her at her blog, Sketch & Jones, and her online shop to see more great illustrations and all sorts of wonderful crafts!

Without further ado...
Here's how it works:

Create a new Tuesday Tag-Along blog post. Include the Tuesday Tag-Along button by copying and pasting the code above. (You are also welcome to copy and paste these instructions in their entirety, or any portion of this Tuesday Tag-Along blog post!)
Add your blog name and the URL of your TTA post to the MckLinky below.
Follow Twee Poppets, the hostess blog listed in the first slot. Twee Poppets will follow you back! (Note: If you want Twee Poppets to follow you back, you MUST leave her a comment saying that you are a new follower and leave a link to your blog!)
If you can, please follow the blogs in the three slots before you (e.g., if you're number 20, follow numbers 19, 18, and 17). This is not mandatory, but it will help ensure that everyone who signs up gets a few new followers!
Follow as many other blogs as you want. The more you follow, the more that will follow you back! Be sure to tell them that you're following from Tuesday Tag-Along! You may also want to leave a link to your blog so they can return your follow more easily.
When you get a new follower through Tuesday Tag-Along, be sure to follow them back! It's just common courtesy. :)

The Great Pet adventure...

2010-06-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Not only are we baby lovers we are also animal lovers at heart at my home. We have had several cats (we have had horrible luck with cats) and we have had dogs. We started with a beage (technically) named Buddy. He was the sweetest dog ever. He was an adorable stereotypical old english painting looking beagle with a smile on at all times and a zest for living. We had some difficulty housebreaking him. We had him for a couple of years but ended up having to give him away because we were apartmenting it and he needed open spaces. Beagles are space dogs they have been bread for backyards and farm living. These dogs have been raised through the years as great hunting dogs who are excellent on long hunts because they were not only great at tracking since they are hounds but they are also loving and friendly to their masters so they kept them warm on long nights out in the elements and buddy was just that. I loved that old dog. But he moved on to a home that not only had another beagle to feed the beagles social needs but was also a farm so he had room to run and play. I think he was my favorite dog EVER!

While had Buddy we got Spira. A cute kitten who was rescued from the street. Spira, named after the land that Final Fantasy X was set in, was lively and loving. This was Brad's favorite cat because she was sweet and played a lot like a dog would. she loved climbing the chairs and snuggling in bed. We had her a short time and she died one afternoon from I do not know what. I remember getting a call at work from a very emotional Brad that she had died. I came home early and we cried together and buried her in the backyard at Brad's dads place. I don't think Brad ever got over Spira's death 100%.

Still having Buddy after Spira's passing we got Angel. Angel was a first and third pet in a way because she was Brad and his Dad's dog prior to coming to live with us. She was taken to Brad's grandmother's to live for awhile but Brad's grandmother was not a young wisp of a thing any longer and could not take care of Angel and one of Angel's puppies Sissy that she had prior to taking Angel and her home reflected it smelling strongly of Dog urine and making any visiter feel like they smelled of Dog urine as well when they left. So we took Angel who loved hanging out with Buddy anyway. They enjoyed each others company and through a few more cats we had the two of them. Buddy and Angel were not fixed (our young stupidity there and Brad's reluctance to get either fixed because it went against God's order of things, he has since changed him mind there). Sooo Buddy knocked up Angel. Angel is a small terrior that is jet black. So we had terrior and beagle puppies who were adorable. They took on funky beagle personalities with a smaller stature. Angel delierved 9 live puppies that were as sweet as can be. We kept them, yes in our apartment, until they were old enough to be given away and we gave them all away to friends and a few to strangers. They were great fun except they pooped everywhere and were loud. My one expereince with puppies was fun and taught me that I did not want to go there again. After awhile at the same time that we gave buddy away we also drove Angel and one of the puppies to Florida. Angel was given to Brad's mother to keep her company. This turned out to be a great union because Brad's mother recently home and not working due to illness were a great pair with Angel keeping her company and even showing that she knew when Brad's mother was going to have an episode. Angel lives there still to this day.

With Angel and Buddy we got four other cats (not kittens) one died mysteriously, Snow who was ill jumped out the window and ran away, an orange cat went nuts and we returned him to his family of origin and they were relieved to get him back, and Rex was so heartbroken to loose the cat he grew up with and the family he had grown accustomed to that he lost the will to live and we tried to draw him out but he urinated on himself and hid under a table. After only a couple of days he died of starvation becuase he refused to eat. Had he lived we would have returned him as well. That was the last attempt at a cat in the apartment and we took a break from having pets for a little while.

When we moved to Texas and moved into my paretns rental home. While we were there we got Liono and Lucy. Two kittens fro the same litter. Shortly after bringing them home Lucy got ill and we gave her antibiotics nursing her back to health. Once she was healthy she took advatage of an open door and ran away. Liono stayed and we got him fixed. He was a cute tabby who loved cuddling and jumping on our tall bed. We thinnk something happened and that he was too active after his surgery because he mysteriously died one evening.

After getting married and moving into a house we got a great dog that was a mixed breed. Her name was Freckles and she was loving but very very energetic. Freckles was afraid of all men except Brad and would pee on herself when men came around. We think that she was abused as a puppy by a man. She lived with us for about three years. She was made an outdoor dog when we noticed that she not only shed long white hair like crazy but was not getting house borken and we worked 45 min away from home so we were gone 10 hours a day. She loved Stephen but never understood that she should not jump on him. She kept finding her way out of the yard so she could go visiting around the neighborhood. We fixed the fence several times but she would dig her way out. One day she never came home. We were not sure what happened to her but we decided to leave it at that. She was always good at coming home so we knew she was really gone when she did not.

During Freckles time with us we had Lily a cute Kitten given to us by one of Brad's friends parents. She was sweet and hung out with me while I was preggo with Stephen. She would sit on my belly and purr. She ended up having worms and was banished tot he workshop to get that worked out. When Stephen was born we brought her back into the house. Something with giving birth made me really allergic to her and I was brekaing out in hives and Stephen was allergic to her so we ended up giving her away to a nice loving family.

After Freckles ran away we adopted Squall. Squall was at the pound and was scheduled to die the next day. He is a huge Tabby who is sweet and pawed at us through the cage. Squall is a cat who gives hugs and loves cuddling. We adopted him got him fixed and declawed. He does not like Brad but he is my buddy. We have a morning routine where we I get up with Mahalia he gets his wet food for the day. He ollows me around purring and loving on me because he knows that it is time for his daily treat. He is my big baby.

Trying to draw Squall out of his hiding all day we got a small tabby kitten named Rinoa (formerly Whispers), On day one she was scared scared scared but Squall was just as scared of her. Out of fear she hissed at everything at all times. On day one she chased Squall hissing into a corner scaring him so badly that he pooped himself and then she scratched at him. On day two they avoided one another. On day three Squall figured out that he was bigger and that she was just loud and when she would hiss at him to bother her he would lay down while she was hissing at him and stare at her.

Beating the odds with a little help...

2010-06-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo! Today I got some of the best news! My step father who is the light of my kiddo's lives and is a very important part of my Mother's life of course is officially in remission. This is awesome news not only because well it is always good news but also we are only 2 treatments into the round of 6. He will finish up all 6 treatments but all of the scans show no baddness! Next week his application will be put in for stem cell transplants. This is a treatment that has shown a lot of positive results! This is exciting but it will mean 3 months of him being away from us in San Antonio which will be hard but all worth it if it helps. I really give this little triumph to the power of prayer. There has been a lot of prayers sent up to the big guy asking for Carlos to be healthy again. Prayer from family, friends, co-workers, the church family, and many many many prayer trees were lit up for this one. But we are happy and relieved to say that we are seeing the light now. Never doubt the power of a well placed prayer. Gotta love things that prove this quote from Matthias accurate: "Sometimes it seems like God is difficult to find and impossibly far away. We get so caught up in our small daily duties and irritations that they become the only things that we can focus on. What we forget is that God's love and beauty are all around us, every day, if only we would take the time to look up and see them."

GNO by a newly informed Momma!

2010-06-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

Okay so for the longest time I really thought that Mom's who went out to clubs or bars were a little less than cool. I am being honest. I was a little uniformed I think. With Stephen I never ever went out to clubs or went out drinking with my friends. I would have GNO weekly and we would go to dinner or make dinner and watch a movie. Simple. Fun. It was okay. But I did that weekly. After I had Mahalia I was dying to get out and do something that was not the same ole same ole thing. So I went O-U-T with the girls for my friends 21st b-day. Woot! It was a blast! I loved getting out drinking a little and dancing. (Disclaimer: I do not condone drinking and driving you should always find a DD or take a cab) So a few weeks later I went out with the girls again and man I loved it. It was not about being seen really but about seeing life and living. I love danicing with my girl friends and laughing about the interesting things that you see when you are out! What a rush! Now I am going out with my girls about once a month and at the most twice (only when there is a special occasion). So with this change I am having a blast with my girls but also getting more time with my babies and hubby. So it is a win win! Look at my fun pics in a slideshow below!

Playing Catch Up Photo Slideshow...

2010-05-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here we go... A ton of photos of life in general from Mahalia's birth until well now. Enjoy the journey! They are not in any particular order.

RnG Soak Journey...

2010-05-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

2010-05-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

To swaddle or not to swaddle that is the question.
Tis better to have arms restrained or arms out.

I am not sure. Stephen slept in a swaddle for the first 7 months of his life. There was no issue really. He started rolling over in his sleep in his swaddle at 7 months which is when we transitioned to not being swaddled. Mahalia started flipping over in her swaddle at 3 months. So here I was not ready to have her sleep unswaddled but her not being able to sleep in her bed because she had no arms to move herself out of the mattress. So we had her sleeping in her swaddle in her swing for a few weeks. But she then started rolling over in her swaddle in her swing. Grrr. Okay okay no swaddle and in the bed not swing. We transitioned this week which was difficult for me. She just started a growth spurt that has her not sleeping through the night again so I am dragging for now. What to do but ride it out. One day she will get back to sleeping through the night.

We have been successfully cloth diapering at home which is awesome. The daycare did not agree to cloth diaper, sore subject for me no matter what the reasons are. But at home we are doing the BG 3.0 and loving em. We have plenty of diapers and they are easy easy to use. We bought some new and some used on the swapping websites. You can't really understand the idea of buying used unless you have been cding because it is so foreign and sounds gross (I know I have been there). But it is perfectly safe and save a bundle when stocking a good stash. We have used two different detergents on our dipes. Sudzy Baby which I loved and now Rockin' Green. Sudzy Baby we had some issues with the stocking times and website difficulties plus the scenting they use is crystals that don't all go away when the wash is completed. It was driving Brad nuts, which I understand, so we switched to Rockin' Green which had a ton of great interviews. The first Rockin' Green experience was not what I expected because I expected quicker turn around on the order but due to new packaging, new location, new formula, and new equipment there were bugs to be worked out. The product is AWESOME! The scents are AWESOME! All of the product is natural and it all is gone after the wash. To come will be a slideshow of my Rocking a soak with Rockin' Green process.

Mahalia is close to crawling and should be really going any day now. As it is she gets up on her hands and knees and rocks LOL! Blazin to catch up to Stephen. Stephen loves his sister and often tries to comfort her when she is crying. They are an adorable pair of rascals growing more and more as the days pass. So here we are. Four person family with a lot of growing room and a lot of time to grow.

2010-05-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

Wow things got crazy and here I am month and months later. Baby is here YAY! Mahalia was born on december 21st, 2009 exactly 2 yrs and 6 months after Stephen who was born on June 21, 2007. Strange! She is healthy and happy.

People always tell me not to worry becasye 2nd babies are generally slower to talk walk etc. LOL they are slower when the older sibling is interested int hem and will bring them things and talk for them... Stephen is so busy with his own little life that he does not try to talk for Mahalia and he is not bringing her anything. So she is driven to get to things on her own. She is almost crawling now but even without the word crawling she is definetly getting where she wants to be without any issues. LOL I would love for her to have taken some time to be still but she has places to go. She is so much fun to watch!

Just a little interest

2009-09-21T07:11:00.001-07:00

So I am very excited. I have my next sono on Wednesday and those are always great to help my calm down a bit because I will get to see my little miracle and make sure she is still a she. I am hoping that she will cooperate, unlike her brother, and do the 3d sono for us. Stephen put his hands and later feet infront of his face and would not move em for us to get the 3d shot. Oh well. We will be checking the position of the placenta which was low in that last sono. The Doctor said that 99% or more of the time the placenta moves up as the pregnancy progresses and that at this point she is not overly concerned. We will be getting a better shot of the heart and the spine because in that last sono she felt that the shots that she got were not great. She is not concerned though because the pregnancy has been progressing well. I did the glucose test at the last apt and I do not have gestational diabetes which is great news. They did find that my iron was low so I am not taking a thyroid pill in the morning with my claritin, prenatal and magnesium at lunch, and an iron tablet in the evening. I feel like that is a lot of pills but I know for a fact that others are having to take more and they aren't having to take em for preggo reasons. I am really grateful that I am remaining healthy and that thus far Mahalia has been doing well.

Stephen continues to do well. We are working on potty training which when he is in the mood he is a champ at it but when he is not wanting to mess with it he well doesn't bother. We did big boy underwear last night because he does know when he needs to go plus it does not wick away wetness and he can feel it better. But he was not in the mood to mess with going to the potty so he started by pooping in the underwear and we took him and showed him how to put it in the toilet and put on new underwear, then he came and told me he peed and I had to clean up a really small puddle in the kitchen, I changed him into his third and final pair (I really need to stock up on more underwear for him) and he peed a little bit in the living room. Needless to say we cleaned it up and put on a pullup. we were done for the night both due to not having any more big boy underwear but also because Stephen was not interested in doing it last night and I am not going to force it at this point.

Currently I am trying to nest but am not able to because as most people know a lot of nesting is done greatly through the preggo's hubby because we can't move heavy things etc. We are moving Stephen to the front room and making Stephen's nursery into Mahalia's room. Right now the current things that I am waiting for is for the filing cabinet to be moved out of the front room and Stephen's bed to be moved into its place. I already have the safety knob covers in place in front room and can get the other stuff moved once the two big things are moved.

24 wks 4 days and 107 to go!

2009-08-31T07:07:00.000-07:00

So I guess my obsessive tracking of my time left has made some people think I am crazy but you know it makes me feel better as I see the numbers decreasing and increasing as they should since it helps me remember that this fatigue and HB will not last forever. Yay for the end and the new beginning. (Mahalia is currently kicking up a storm on one of my ribs which is good since maybe that means she has flipped out of breach.

Stephen is a champ at this potty training gig so far. Man he is the easiest little boy by far! He asks to go to the potty and he even goes into his room where his potty is takes off his dipe and then lets up know that he went potty every once and awhile. I mean we still have a little way to go on the whole bit and it won't be just this the whole time, but so far he is getting it. He knows that he needs to go and he asks to go. It is an adjustment for me to take him to the potty but it is a welcome adjustment because it means less dipes and eventually none. I am sooo proud of him. He is doing really well. He enjoys the praise and the M&M reward when he is successful. He is such a cutie.

Stephen had his first bigger boo boo on friday but he is fine. he fell at Daycare and hit his head on a cabinet. It looked terrible. He had a big goose egg, bruise, and red line that looked like a scrape but wasn't. I was afraid that he would fall and his his head all weekend because I knew if he hit the same spot he would bust it open and need stitches. I could feel where it almost busted anyway. Thankfully he did not fall again. It looks better daily and looks much better today. He had two blackish eyes on Saturday and a little left today. I was a little nervous about him being in the daycare at church because of it and that weird mommy guilt feeling that it happened. But all is good and we have moved past the bigger boo boo. He is actually getting tired of the attention to his boo boo if you belive that. But he has been a great sport all along and Daddy enjoyed their Friday night bonding time (while mommy was out for Girl's Night Out) when Stephen would ask for Daddy to kiss his "fworehead".

I had my OB apt on Wednesday last week and Mahalia was doing well. HB in the 150's. I went over my list of unhappy symptoms and got some feedback and a list of OTC's to try to help the current situation. later my OB called and told me that there were some issues in the Sono I did around 16 weeks that she thought I should know about and that she forgot to mention in the appointment. They did not get a good shot of her heart which this was at 16 weeks so most of the shots I rememeber were difficult because so far anytime anyone tries to get Mahalia to cooperate with scans has had to work at it. And there was also not a good shot of the spine. The OB is not worried about it at this point but they will do another sono soon to look at those things. Also my placenta was low and that worries them since up to this point had I called about spotting and bleeding they would have dismissed it a bit as long as it was not heavy and accompanied with cramping/pain but with a low placenta it could be a lot more serious. That is also something that will be looked at in the next sono. Soooo I will have another sono at some point soon which is either 2 - 4 wks. I have my next apt on the 10th which is 2 wks from my last so I am not sure if it will happen then or not. I know that my dreaded sugar test will be at my next apt. Drinking the yucky glucose stuff waiting for an hour and then testing the sugar levels. FYI to self no excessive sugar that morning at breakfast or lunch. I am hoping for another sono sooner rather than later to know all is well but I also hope that this sono does not take the place of the sono that is generally later in the pregnancy. Oh well.

Girl's Night Out AKA GNO is my one night out away from home with friends to relax watch a movie and not worry about responsibility as much. I get GNO every Friday night unless something happens and we arrange ahead of time for a different night. Which is rare. So this is the one night for Stephen and Brad to have bonding time together and they love it generally. There used to be a Boys Night Out on Thursday but some changes in social groups for Brad has changed it to not as standard of a night. It is okay by me. The rule of thumb is that we have to be respectful of one another and return at a decent time unless otherwise discussed. I try to be home at the latest by 11 pm unless we go out to a movie and then I will let Brad know that I will return as soon as the movie lets out. I just think it is nice to be able to show respect to one another when neither one of us sleeps as well when the other is out.

"Baby sister"

2009-08-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hello 23 weeks 4 days with 114 days to go. There is a lot of confusion for a little one when another baby is on the way. Alot of this is due to just the intangible nature of pregnancy. If you are on the outside you don't feel the movement and sickness and you don't have the constant awareness of another life growing. For Stephen being told about his "Baby Sister" or 'Baby Mahalia" who is on the way it is a constant reminder and attempt to bring him into the fun of the new life being created.

We started out telling him that baby sister was growing in Mommy's belly and showing him the sonogram pictures of his baby sister and trying to make her more tangible even though all we had was the pictures. That ended up confusing prro Stephen who thought baby sister was the picture on the screen. He knew that is was a baby and that it was somehow related to him but he was not sure about where the baby was. We told him about the baby growing in mommy's tummy. He seemed to understand that and would go to the computer screen and would talk about baby sister growing. We had him put his hand on my belly and said that baby sister was in mommy's belly and could not hear him so he needed to say Hi Mahalia or Hi Baby Sister. He would then remove his hand and walk over and say it to the computer screen. The other day there was a slight break through although he is still a little confused. He was looking at the computer screen and said Hi Mahalia and then pulled his shirt up and came up to me and said Baby sister in my tummy. We gently told him that Mahalia was not in his tummy but in mommy's tummy. I think he is getting it slowing but surly.

Stephen has started stuttering when he is thinking really hard and when he is excited. Experts and those I trust agree that this is okay and that he is just learning so fast that his brain is having trouble keeping up and that it will pass. No worries. It can be cute and sometimes it sounds painful when he is trying really hard to say something. I am working hard just to let it come out on its own.

I have been having fun playing with my registry for Mahalia and was excited to find that Amazon now has a universal registry where you can register for things not on their site so it keeps it all very simple. I love Amazon. The registry is a good checklist of the things I still need to gather along the way.

Mahalia is breech. I know this right now because her favorite thing to do is tap dance on my bladder/cervix or jump on it like a trampoline. It is rather uncomfortable and I keep telling her she needs to flip now while there is still room. But she jsut loves dancing on my bladder. Oh well we shall see how it all unfolds. I am trying not to nest to badly but not working on the nursery is killing me. Oh well I will try and resist a little longer.

CRAFT TIME PICS

2009-08-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

ITS A...

2009-08-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

SO this is a little belated because I had this sono done at 16/17 weeks and I am now currently 21 weeks. Soooo we have known for some time what little joy we are expecting. Mahalia Dawn is the name that we have chosen. Dawn after my sister, my best friend, and my father in law "Don" so I think I have covered a few bases with the choice. We are sooo excited to be having a little girl along with Stephen who will be, no doubt, the best big brother ever! He is such a sweet giving little boy that he will def have no problems "sharing" his life and home with a little girl. He calls her "Baby Sister" right now. We have had discussions with him about the baby in mommy's belly who is "gwowing" and is his baby sister. We have talked about Mahalia in way such as when we buy an outfit to put away for her etc that it is Mahalia's. He has looked at the sonogram pictures and we have said that it is baby sister. There is actually the sono pic of her sucking her thumb up on the computer as the desktop background and when he sees it he points out that it is baby sister and sometimes if we are doing something on the computer he asks where baby sister is.

Stephen has been having regular craft time recently. We have been working on crafts for the Mahalia's room. It is great and fun and they are turning out wonderful. The pictures def show Stephen having a blast. I have a great time well. It is good time for bonding with Stephen. We also went to Michael's and did craft time there. Stephen made a bag with Fish on it that he now uses as his Daily here and there diaper bag. He loves it because he is able to carry it himself.

Brad got to feel Mahalai move the other day. It was great. He got a goofy grin on his face and started talking to her. It was really cute. I can't wait until Stephen gets to feel Mahalia move. That will be great for him. Well hopefully I can update more later.

Sono pics

2009-08-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

13 weeks and a run down of cravings...

2009-06-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

Some preggo women have no symptoms... I on the other hand range the gammet from increased emotions to morning sickness. So yes with my 24/7 m/s I still have cravings. There are the common cravings which are chicken friend rice, that I love anyway but I crave it now. Then there is bread & butter pickes which I am devouring like a mad woman. To the point that last night I dreamed of Whoppers and so on my way to work I stopped and picked up whoppers to sooth the craving. It is not so bad but cravings are so random at times that you can't catch em. Like philly cheese steak sandwiches and then when faced with getting one the craving is gone. But I guess that is how it goes.

12 weeks, the cat is officially out of the bag, now it begins

2009-06-04T05:59:00.000-07:00

We are at 12 weeks. So two more weeks and we are out of the first trimester which I must say is the scariest and possibly most miserable part of pregnancy for me. I am one that has the 24 hour morning sickness variety with aversion to any strong odor. During this time I have had to run to the bathroom for both good and bad odors the strangest being the baby powder smell that Stephen's pampers have. It is by far worse in the evening when I am not always able to eat and if I do I am prepared for anything to happen. During the morning I feel at my peak and sometimes in the early afternoon depending on the day. It has started as early as noon when I quietly exited a training I was in and as late as 5pm. Generally I get sick around 4, or better said nausea sets in. Thankfully I have been able to maintian and gain appropraitely according to the doctor meaning that the days I keep everything down are helping the days I worship the toilet bowl (whichever it might be). I read a funny article a woman who had terrible morning sickness throughout her pregnancy wrote where her bi-line was "I just enjoy vomiting." At times when hubby doesn't understand and tells me I think about it to much and if I would just think about something else I would be fine. That is when I think about the article and laugh to myself about enjoying vomiting, which no woman does. I have hope that the morning sickness will fade away with the transition of the first trimester or at least get to the point it was with Stephen where I felt a little nauseated if I needed to eat. at the same time my heartburn has offically started but it pretty mild at this point and also get increasingly annoying toward the evening. I am so very excited about the journey I am embarking on with #2.
The news is being shared now and not before because we were a little nervous about who knew because of the dangers in the first trimester. Hearing the heartbeat yesterday was amazing and it was a breath of fresh air that caused me to relax a little bit. I will feel a lot more relaxed when I feel regular movement in a couple of months but for now I live off of that little heart going within me in the 170's range which is healthy and wonderful at this point. We have our second sono in a month, we had our first because of not being able to easily find the heart beat a month ago and it had changed the due date that we originally had. So we will see the baby in month. We might know the sex in a month. And I will get another sigh of relief in a month. Until then... I might look into investing into a personal doppler from babys-r-us. From what I have heard from family and friends it works well and helped them through their anxious moments.

Stephen

2009-06-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

Not long after we were married. We moved into a cute little home. We found out soon after that we were expecting. After morning sickness and craving Stephen was born on June 21st 2007. He spent some time in the NICU but is doing great. Stephen continues to change and grow and learn. All of this is happening while Brad and I are learning as well from him.

The Wedding

2009-06-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

Brad and I met on January 28th 2004 officially. We had been emailing and chatting via yahoo personals and messanger for about a month and we finally met. We went out to Westerville Bowl with a college friend of mine and bowled. We hit it off, even though I was trying to let my friend and Brad talk more. We were goners at that point. Over the next three years we lived and loved and after my graduation in June 2006 we moved to Amarillo and were married on July 28th, 2006 on our 2 1/2 year anni.